海角大神

European officials are scrambling to help Ukraine stay warm and keep functioning through the bitter winter months, pledging Friday to send more support that will mitigate the Russian military鈥檚 efforts to turn off the heat and lights.

Nine months after Russia invaded its neighbor, the Kremlin鈥檚 forces have zeroed in on Ukraine鈥檚 power grid and other critical civilian infrastructure in a bid to tighten the screws on Kyiv. Officials estimate that around 50% of Ukraine鈥檚 energy facilities have been damaged in the recent strikes.

France is sending 100 high-powered generators to Ukraine to help people get through the coming months, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said Friday.

She said Russia is 鈥渨eaponizing鈥� winter and plunging Ukraine鈥檚 civilian population into hardship.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, arriving Friday on a visit to Kyiv, said a promised air-defense package, which Britain valued at 50 million pounds ($60 million), would help Ukraine defend itself against Russia鈥檚 bombardments.

鈥淲ords are not enough. Words won鈥檛 keep the lights on this winter. Words won鈥檛 defend against Russian missiles,鈥� Mr. Cleverly said in a tweet about the military aid.

The package also includes 24 ambulances and 11 other emergency vehicles, some of them armored.

鈥淎s winter sets in, Russia is continuing to try and break Ukrainian resolve through its brutal attacks on civilians, hospitals and energy infrastructure,鈥� Mr. Cleverly said.

Russian officials have claimed they are hitting legitimate targets. But the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday expressed his shock at the depth of civilian suffering caused by the bombing, amid broader allegations of abuses.

鈥淢illions are being plunged into extreme hardship and appalling conditions of life by these strikes,鈥� Volker T眉rk said in a statement Friday. 鈥淭aken as a whole, this raises serious problems under international humanitarian law, which requires a concrete and direct military advantage for each object attacked.鈥�

The U.N. humanitarian office also chimed in with its concerns. 鈥淯kraine is turning increasingly cold without power, without steady water supply and without heating,鈥� Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the office, said Friday.

He said the global body and its partners were sending hundreds of generators to Ukraine to help the government there in its efforts to keep people warm and maintain essential services, such as health care. The World Health Organization said it is sending generators to hospitals.

Mr. Cleverly鈥檚 visit came a day after European officials launched a scheme called 鈥淕enerators of Hope,鈥� which calls on more than 200 cities across the continent to donate power generators and electricity transformers.

The generators are intended to help provide power to hospitals, schools and water pumping stations, among other infrastructure.
Generators may provide only a tiny amount of the energy that Ukraine will need during the cold and dark winter months.

But the comfort and relief they provide is already evident, as winter begins in earnest and power outages occur regularly. The whine and rumble of generators is becoming commonplace, allowing stores that have them to stay open and Ukraine鈥檚 ubiquitous coffee shops to keep serving hot drinks that maintain a semblance of normality.

Despite strong wind, rain, sub-zero temperatures at night, icing, and broken power lines, more than 70% of Ukraine鈥檚 electricity requirements were being met on Friday morning, the country鈥檚 state power grid operator Ukrenergo said in a statement.

The electricity supply has been at least partially restored in all regions of Ukraine, and the country鈥檚 energy grid was once again connected to that of the European Union, Ukrenergo CEO Volodymyr Kudrytskyi said on Friday.

Mr. Kudrytskyi added that, despite that progress, about half of Ukrainian residents continue to experience disruption. He said all three of Ukraine鈥檚 nuclear plants located in areas controlled by Kyiv have resumed operation.

鈥淚n one to two days, nuclear power plants will reach their normal scheduled capacity, and we expect that it will be possible to transfer our consumers to a planned shutdown [regime] instead of emergency [blackouts],鈥� Mr. Kudrytskyi said on Ukrainian TV.

Ukrainian authorities are opening thousands of so-called 鈥減oints of invincibility鈥� 鈥� heated and powered spaces offering hot meals, electricity and internet connections. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said late Thursday that almost 4,400 such spaces have opened across most of the country.

He scoffed at Moscow鈥檚 attempts to intimidate Ukrainian civilians, saying that was the Russian military鈥檚 only option after a string of battlefield setbacks. 鈥淓ither energy terror, or artillery terror, or missile terror 鈥� that鈥檚 all that Russia has dwindled to under its current leaders,鈥� Mr. Zelenskyy said.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian officials and energy workers continued their push to restore supplies after a nationwide barrage Wednesday left tens of millions without power and water.

Kyiv鈥檚 mayor Vitali Klitschko said Friday morning that heating was back on in a third of the capital鈥檚 households, but that half of its population still lacked electricity.

Writing on Telegram, Mr. Klitschko added that authorities hoped to provide all consumers in Kyiv with electricity for a period of three hours on Friday, following a pre-set schedule.

As of Friday morning in Kharkiv, all residents of Ukraine鈥檚 second-largest city had had their electricity supplies restored, but more than 100,000 in the outlying region continued to see interruptions, the regional governor said.

In the south, authorities in the city of Mykolayiv said that running water was set to start flowing again after supplies were cut off by Russian strikes on Thursday.

This story was reported by The Associated Press.